INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia planned to open humanitarian corridors in Ukraine Tuesday for civilians to flee besieged cities, but Kyiv insisted the move was a
publicity stunt and people would not be able to escape.Moscow's offer to evacuate residents was condemned because most of the routes led
into Russia or its ally Belarus, and as the invading forces maintained a devastating shelling campaign.The Ukrainian military said Tuesday,
nearly two weeks into the war, that Russia was ramping up its troops and equipment around the main conflict zones.The invasion has sparked
the biggest war in Europe and the continent's largest refugee crisis since World War II, while the West has responded with sanctions on
Russia that have reverberated around the global economy.Russia's defence ministry said it would open the "humanitarian corridors" from 0700
GMT Tuesday, subject to Ukraine's approval, listing routes from the capital Kyiv as well as the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy -- all
Russia of reneging on previous escape route agreements, and trying to stop people such as by planting explosives on roads."There was an
agreement on humanitarian corridors
Did that work? Russian tanks worked in its place, Russian Grads (multiple rocket launchers), Russian mines," Zelenskiy said in a video
posted on Telegram.Accusing Moscow of "cynicism," Zelenskiy also said Russian troops destroyed buses that were due to evacuate civilians
from the combat zones."They ensure that a small corridor to the occupied territory is open for a few dozen people
Not so much towards Russia as towards the propagandists, directly towards the television cameras," he said.French President Emmanuel Macron
also condemned the Russian plan."All this is not serious, it is moral and political cynicism, which I find intolerable," Macron told French
broadcaster LCI."I do not know many Ukrainians who want to go to Russia," he added, saying full ceasefires to protect civilians were needed
rather than corridors.Addressing the Security Council, the UN's top humanitarian official Martin Griffiths also said civilians must be
allowed to leave in the direction they wish.'Reigned terror'At least 406 civilians have died since the start of Russia's assault on its
ex-Soviet neighbour, according to the UN, although it believes the real figures to be "considerably higher."Ukrainian forces said Tuesday
they had repulsed a Russian attack on Izium city in the Kharkiv region, and outgunned troops have been trying to hold back a Russian push up
from the east and south in an attempt to encircle Kyiv.Russian forces "suffered losses and retreated" in Izium after they "reigned terror in
the city by bombing civilian premises and infrastructure," the military said.AFP journalists witnessed thousands of civilians on Monday
fleeing fighting via an unofficial escape route from Irpin, a suburb west of Kyiv, towards the capital.Children and the elderly were carried
on carpets used as stretchers on the route, which leads over the makeshift bridge and along a single path secured by the army and
volunteers.Desperate people abandoned pushchairs and heavy suitcases to cram on buses out of the war zone."We had no light at home, no
water, we just sat in the basement," Inna Scherbanyova, 54, an economist from Irpin, told AFP."Explosions were constantly going off..
Near our house there are cars, there were dead people in one of them..
very scary."Refugees trying to escape the city using agreed escape routes were left stranded as the road they were directed towards was
soldiers) out, but I don't know if we'll be fully able to do it."An international legion of volunteers has descended on Ukraine to fight the
Ukraine, we believe there's truth to that," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said he
will not send conscripts or reservists to fight in the conflict.Zelensky has recalled all servicemen working abroad to fight the invading
bank supportThe World Bank on Monday approved an additional $489-million package in support for Ukraine, to be made available immediately
and dubbed "Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine," or "FREE Ukraine."It came as Zelenskiy renewed calls for the West to
boycott Russian exports, particularly oil, and to impose a no-fly zone to stop the carnage.NATO countries have so far rebuffed Kyiv's demand
for a no-fly zone, fearing a widening war against nuclear-armed Russia.Western allies have instead imposed unprecedented sanctions against
businesses, banks and billionaires in a bid to pressure Moscow to halt its assault.But the leaders of Germany, Britain and the Netherlands
warned Monday against a ban on Russian oil, saying it could put Europe's energy security at risk.U.S
President Joe Biden's spokeswoman said no decision had been taken, while Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned any oil ban
would have "catastrophic consequences" on prices that have already headed towards a 2008 record high.Putin has equated sanctions with a
declaration of war and put nuclear forces on alert, pledging the "neutralisation" of Ukraine "either through negotiation or through
war."Despite harsh punishments for those voicing dissent, protests in Russia against the Ukraine invasion have continued, with more than
10,000 people arrested since it began.
